Canada Halts Spectrum Grab By Wireless Giants Rogers, Bell

By Chelsea Naso

Law360, New York (February 28, 2014, 1:27 PM ET) -- Canadian regulators denied a request on Thursday to transfer wireless spectrum licenses from NextWave to a joint venture of wireless giants Rogers Communications and Bell Canada, contending that the move would be counterproductive to the government’s push for more competition in the industry.

Canada’s Industry Minister James Moore said approving the transfer of 83 wireless communications services spectrum licenses from NextWave to Rogers’ and Bell’s Inukshuk Wireless Partnership would lead to an “unacceptable” concentration of spectrum in the hands of two of the industry’s three biggest...